A mini Roleplay, set in an alternate dimension where Discord defeated the Mane Six and has been running amok unchecked. Discord is now hosting a challenge as the final chance to defeat him. Can Equestria and the world be saved?

...Damnit, I think I missed a syllable. Ryla thought, as her blade began to glow, and drew itself from it's sheathe. How the heck do they make it sound so easy in the movies? Haiku's difficult... This whole stoic swordspony business is difficult to maintain.

Resisting the urge to sigh, Ryla swung the blade a few times around her to loosen herself up, while looking around her surroundings. She had no idea who she was up against, and with the colorful characters she had seen while hanging around the observatory, vigilance was important. It was quite a surprise when she was suddenly teleported into the middle of a steel foundry, but the swordspony didn't spend too much time dwelling on her surroundings or the fact there was nobody there. Discord had said there was a foundry that ran itself.

Seriously, none of any of this makes sense. Discord or not, is this really supposed to be some kind of television show? Well if I'm supposed to be flashy, that's not to difficult. I need to get to the top so I can cut that S.O.B's head off. The swordspony thought, deciding to take a swing at a piece of machinery. The blade cut through the metal like a hot knife through butter, causing the the thing to crash down to the ground with a rather heavy crash. As if they were alive, all the machinery nearby stopped for a moment and seemed to turn towards the swordspony admiring the blade, as though they were alive and shocked one of their fellows were just brutally murdered. But things went back to normal quickly, the machines returning back to work.

That should drawn out whoever I'm fighting. Ryla thought as she climbed up to the top of a walk way after sheathing her katana. ...Why the heck did this have to be the first battle field? I'm starting to regret wearing this get-up. How in the heck do they do it in the movies...?

Waiting, it didn't take too long for the unicorn to notice movement other than the machines moving about in their industrious manner. What Ryla saw was a creature she had never seen before, a pony that seemed to be made of metal.

A robot? Cyborg? It certainly doesn't look to be all flesh and blood, but why's it look like a kid...? Ryla thought, her hidden face now holding a look of curiosity.

The little filly-like creature looked up directly at Ryla without even needing to look around for her. The visor on her face turned from blue to yellow. "Unicorn, are you my opponent?"

All of a sudden, the steelworks was silent, all the machines pausing for a moment at hearing the voice. Although they weren't alive, even Ryla could feel that somehow their attention was taken away from the work they were enchanted to maintain, and to this newcomer. And as though on cue, Ryla spotted a flash of purple from outside the door she could see in the distance, the purple energy barrier that the draconoques had mentioned.

"The barrier formed. A sign to begin the fight. I am who you seek." Ryla stated, rather calmly, even though she was a bit unnerved about how the robot identified what she was, even though she was disguised. Internally she cheered. Nailed it! ...Gah, this heat...

"Then Vector will beat you." The little filly-bot said, her visor turning an orange color. Suddenly blades fanned out all around her.

Screw it, this heat's not worth it. Ryla thought, deciding now was the best time to discard the stupid disguise. She tore off the wrappings, before hopping down from the walkway to the floor below, drawing her sword at the same time. She landed with easy, feeling a whole lot better now that the oppressive outfit was gone. Whew! Feels like a spring breeze~

The filly charged at him, blades whirring about and beginning to slash at the swordspony. Despite her experience on the battlefield being rather minimal, Ryla was able to track each blade, and skilfully deflect them with her own. In a dance-like flurry, Ryla's blade swung here and there, knocking the dangerous weapons out of the way. She couldn't help but notice the filly's visor starting to turn red, and how all the attacks seemed to be going straight for her, no change in direction to feint her out, or exploit a blind spot. Spotting an opening in the flurry, Ryla ducked in close to the bot, bashing the filly in the snout with the blade's hilt. Much to her surprise, she didn't hear a metallic clang.

Looking dazed, the robot was holding her snout as she stumbled back, not a reaction that the swordspony expected. Wary, the unicorn held her blade at the ready, but she swear that she saw some tears from under the visor.

"Hey hey, did I break your snout or something?" Ryla asked, completely forgetting about her wanting to say everything in Haiku. "...Is that even possible...?"

Vector's visor turned a deep red. "Ib bine. Ids nubbing." Still clutching her snout, she sent her blades at Ryla again, this time in a sweeping motion. She easily jumped out of the way, taking note of how sloppy the strikes were in comparison.

This is way too easy. She thought, continuing to dodge some more sloppy strikes, flipping here and there, and deflecting others with her swords. I could go in and take her out right now, and stop this farce... But her reactions... They seem distinctly, alive...?

"Like hell it is..." Ryla muttered, dashing in quickly this time after dodging another reckless swing. She gave the filly a light bop on the head to surprise her, before grabbing hold of her hoof to take a look. The filly's snout indeed looked messed up slightly.

"Ah jeez, it is broken." She said, looking almost apologetic. "Why are you still fighting? You're strikes are nowhere near as efficient as before, and I could easily just destroy you right here and now. Just surrender, and save yourself the pain."

"Hey, stop that already!" Ryla said, hitting the bot a bit harder of the head this time. In the moment of surprise, Ryla grabbed the little one's snout, and mimicking her mother when she had broken her nose, with quick motion tugged. The filly gave a surprised yelp, holding her snout again, but much to her surprise the nose had been reset. "There. Now you can stop sounding so weird, and talk normally."

"...Why?" The filly asked, her visor blue as she looked at Ryla in confusion. Her blades were now lowered "Why aren't you afraid of Vector...?"

"Eh?" Ryla said, surprised at the question. She scratched her head sheepishly. "Erm... Well Mom always called me a reckless, rash idiot. Running head first into things without any sense of danger or care. ...I guess it's cause I'm dumb?"

Ryla laughed, but stopped, noticing that the cyborg's demeanor was entirely different from before. She wasn't taking any stance, and instead looked very... down? "Hey, hey. What's up, why aren't you trying to kill me again?"

"I wasn't-!" She exclaimed, looking as though she was going to deny. But she stopped midway as though she realized something, and now she looked even sadder. Now Ryla just felt awkward.

"...You said you were a weapon, right? Why're you in the tournament?" Ryla asked, sheathing her blade.

There was a brief silence, and Vector looked towards the ground. Ryla had never seen anypony, let alone what she thought was just a hunk a metal, look so sad. "Vector is alone. Ponies all fear her and hate her,but Vector never choose to be like this... Vector just wants the other ponies to stop fearing and hate her, and stop pretending to be kind to use her. Vector hopped that if she could win this tournament, she could wish to become a normal pony. Then Vector wouldn't be alone anymore."

Ryla was silent as she listened. She felt bad for the little robot, and the unicorn was starting to feel more and more that maybe it was just a child, looking for acceptance. It may look like a robot, fight like a robot, but from what she'd seen so far, she can't have been a robot. She sighed, before sitting down so that she was at eye level with the little creature.

"...My dad died, when he fought in the resistance against Discord." She confessed, not sure why she was doing so. "From what I've heard from my mom, he was a brave soldier that fought solely for the freedom and the happiness of others. He never raised his blade against another, unless it was to protect another. I joined this tournament because I wanted to kill the bastard that took him away from me. But... Well, I can't exactly just go through this tournament purely for that reason anymore it seems. I'm sure my dad would've done it, but... How about you come with me? I'm probably not gonna need my wish to kill Discord, so why don't I use it for you then?"

Vector looked up in surprise and doubt. "R-really?"

Ryla nodded, and for once, she swore that she saw an almost hopeful expression. What she didn't notice, however, was that her blade was slowly being drawn, by magic that wasn't her own. Noticing that, Vector's expression then turned into an expression of hurt and betrayal, and her visor turned a blood red.

"YOU LIAR!" She screamed, all of her blades going at Ryla without warning, faster and with more force than before. With barely any time to react, Ryla focused all her magic into drawing the blade, and swung as hard as she could to protect herself.

It wasn't a perfect deflection, as one of the blades embedded itself in the leg, causing her to wobble in pain, and her vision to go fuzzy for a moment. However she was able to knock some of the blades away, and embedding themselves into some of the machinary, while outright cutting some in half. As her vision returned, she noticed that Vector was now running away, and Ryla swore she was sobbing.

"H-Hey, wait!" Ryla called out. She tore out the blade stuck in her leg, grimacing but doing her best to ignore the damage. She gave chase through the foundry, somewhat limping from the injury.

Geh, I'll have to treat this later. No time to start breathing excersizes now though! She thought, doing her best not to lose the filly, who had just jumped onto a conveyor belt. She was about to follow, when suddenly a crusher slammed straight down in front of her, oddly out of sync with the rest of the others.

"Ack! Close! Gotta find another route!" Ryla said, as she jumped onto an assembly line. There, she found that suddenly the grabbers and the welders were suddenly pointing themselves at her, and she was barely escaping each of the strikes.

"What in blazes- are the machinary attacking me?!" She said, incredulous. Cutting one of the things down, she jumped onto the falling debris and launched herself up onto the walkway, where she saw Vector continuing to flee. Eventually she was able to get to her, where she found her sobbing in a corner, with what looked like two industrial claws hanging in the ceiling were guarding her. They clamped menacingly at Ryla, as she approached.

Is... Is this place trying to protect her? Ryla thought, alternating which machine she was pointing her sword at. She slowly lowered her weapon in realization, and then gently placed the weapon on the ground, to show she didn't mean any harm.

The two pieces of equipment seemed to look at each other, or at least Ryla thought that, before they warily moved aside. Without any sudden movements, Ryla approached the sobbing cyborg, before sitting down next to her.

"You were drawing your sword! You're a liar! You were lying to Vector just like the others!" She sobbed.

Ryla was silent, unsure what she was to do. She looked back to where the machines were guarding, which seemed to loom over her with concern, and at the weapon she had left behind, and the blade that belonged to Vector. She then took the blade, and put it int he wound it had inflicted again.

"Wh-what are you-?" Vector exclaimed, shocked as what Ryla was doing. Grimacing, Ryla waited a bit as the blade begun to stain more, and took the completely red blade out again. She was breathing heavy, the pain somewhat unbearable, and was affecting her breathing.

"...Vector, this blade belongs to you. With my blade, I attempted to hurt you, so I hurt myself with yours in return." She said, smiling a bit weakly. "I promise you that I never intended to raise my blade against you, and I promise I'd sooner turn a blade towards myself first. So I apologize, and will you give me a second chance?"

Vector stared, not sure what to think, and before nodding slowly. Ryla could tell she still had her doubts, but at least this was a step towards trust. The young mare noticed in the distance that the purple forcefield that had surrounded the foundry had dissipated.

Hooo... It hurts... Ryla thought, slowly getting up, and helping the robofilly up as well. She levitated the sword gently back into the air, and sheathed it quietly. "I can easily use my Breath to heal, now that I'm not in a fight... But this is a sign of trust, so I don't really want to heal these wounds... But if I have to fight like this?

Something bonked against her head as she wobbled away. "Ow! What the-"

The swords pony looked up, and found an industrial claw holding onto what looked like a medical kit. It gently plopped the kit in front of Ryla, and seemed to look at her expectantly.

"You... you're giving this to me?" She asked, feeling somewhat foolish she was talking to a claw. It made a motion as though it was nodding. So Ryla popped open the kit, and found to her wonderment some bandages, health potions, and medical salves. She took the medical salves, and applied them to the wounds before wrapping them, and then kept the health potions in the kit. She then took off her katan's sheathe, and then hung the medical kit with the remaining two health potions on the strap that kept it to her back. "...Thanks."

The claw moved as though to make a nod of approval. It then pointed at Vector, who seemed to look as confused at Ryla, only being able to detect the magic, then the claw pointed back at Ryla, then gently patted the two on the head before moving back to it's station. As strange as the motions were, Ryla figured out what the claw was trying to say.

...Take care of her, and good luck, huh? She thought, bewildered. For an inanimate object, made solely for industrial purposes, it surprisingly seemed alive. ...Magic's weird, but maybe that's not a bad thing. ...I feel bad for cutting those other equipment, maybe I'll come back after all this is over, and figure out how to repair them.

"Come on Vector. We've got some other fights we need to get to." She said, her legs now feeling a lot better after the treatment, although still some sore. Ryla then began to make her way towards the exit.

"Wait! What are you called?" Vector asked.

The swordspony stopped, and turned back to look at Vector with a grin on her face. "... My name is Ryla Honorbound. And I'm the pony to end chaos. Now come on, we've got your wish to grant!"